How to Duel in Red Dead Redemption 2

RDR2 Dueling is a little different than regular shooting.

There are going to be times in Red Dead Redemption 2 where you’ll need to duel. It’s not that often, but there are a unique set of mechanics for dueling in RDR2 that you’ll need to use in these instances to defeat certain characters, complete missions, which will sometimes lead to the opportunity for rare guns.

Here’s how to duel in RDR2. Your first opportunity for a duel will come in the Gunslinger Missions where you’re tracking down a few gunslingers in the game. When you encounter Emmett Granger and Flaco Hernandez, both encounters will end with a duel.

There are two parts to a duel in Red Dead Redemption 2. The first part is where you need to fill a meter. The second part is where you use Dead Eye to actually shoot your weapon. In this first part you’re going to want to slowly press the RT/R2 button which fills up a meter in the bottom right corner of your screen. You’re going to want to slowly apply pressure to the button and fill the meter. The more that you fill up the meter, the more time you’ll have to use Dead Eye to kill your enemy.

The second part is actually using Dead Eye, you’ll then press the RT/R2 button again when you want to shoot. In this small window you’ll want to aim with the thumbstick to get an accurate shot that puts down your enemy with one bullet, otherwise they might have a chance to kill you. It’s important to note that time does slow down, but your enemy in the duel still has the opportunity to shoot you.

Red Dead Redemption 2 Duel Controls

Slowly press RT/R2 to fill meter

Use Thumbstick to Aim

Press RT/R2 again to Shoot

Duels don’t occur very often in Red Dead Redemption 2, but it’s worth knowing how to do it when the opportunity arises. There’s also a RDR2 Easter Egg in the game that looks like its going to allow you to duel random NPCs, but after bumping into a drunk man at the Saloon in Valentine, he’ll just fall on his face once you’ve moved out to the street to have a duel.

Other than that, you can’t just duel the NPC characters in the game. Dueling sequences will only occur in specific mission content in the game.